Ayanami
Ayanami is the primary antagonist in the anime and manga series'' 07-Ghost. He is the leader of the infamous Black Hawks, a Warsfeil and a military strategist. He has held the post of the Barsburg Army's Chief of Staff for several years after the Raggs War, and after he drowned Marshal Oak, rose to become Field Marshal. He is widely known and respected (on the surface) throughout the Barsburg Empire for his accomplishments, despite his relatively young age, usually being greeted with salutes by many who see him. He is directly or indirectly responsible for many of the turmoils that Teito has suffered in his life including the death of Mikage and Weldeschtein Krom Raggs, Teito's Father. Ayanami seeks the Eye of Mikhail and has been shown to be targeting the Seven Ghosts, particularly Zehel as the scythe that Zehel wields actually belongs to Verloren, Ayanami's soul. He is revealed to be the reincarnation of Verloren later in the story. Appearance Physical Appearance AyanamiCharacterSketch.png|Ayanami's character design. AyanamiColour.png|Ayanami in colour. AyanamiSketch.png|Ayanami's expression chart. Ayanami is a young man who is 34 years old. An omake in ''Supreme Sugar (however as this is in an omake that set in the same universe as the Begleiter side chapter, where Yukinami and Suzunami are young students not combat slaves as they are in the manga, it's unknown if this is canon) He stands at 6 foot in the manga, but he is drawn several inches taller in the anime (being taller than both Frau and Hyuuga in the anime, but being drawn a few inches smaller than them in the manga). Ayanami's build is quite slender, with broad shoulders and he weighs 69kg. His blood type is B. He has sharp facial features with a pointy nose, narrowed eyes and full lips. Out of all the Black Hawks, Ayanami has the palest skin tone- almost white when compared to others. His hair is neck length, wavy and a pale blue color (colored pale purple in the manga), his eye color is violet but the rims of his irises flash red whenever he uses his zaiphon. In the manga Ayanami's eyes are either drawn as having no pupils, or slitted pupils like that of a snake, this not occurring in the anime, as Ayanami is drawn as having normal eyes in the anime. Ayanami is considered very handsome in the series universe, with Eve and Katsuragi commenting on his beauty. The Imperial Army has been shown to take advantage of Ayanami's attractiveness, using pictures of him to attract more females into the military.In a four-panel omake from one of the Limited Anime DVDs, Hyuuga and Katsuragi say, "The number of females in the military has increased recently", and then they find a leaflet on which "Shake hands with me at Hohburg" is written and an image of Ayanami (smiling and holding out his hand) is on it. They think it is an altered image. Later, the organizer of that "campaign" is no where to be found Another four-panel omake from Supreme Sugar 01 says that many women in the Barsburg military have a crush on him. Clothing Ayanami is nearly always seen in his Military uniform: which consists of a black, or possibly dark blue, ankle-length overcoat with gold trimmings on the chest, sleeve cuffs and neck-guard. Like his subordinates Ayanami wears black trousers and knee-length black, buckled boots and white gloves. His uniform has a small half mantle hanging off his left shoulder emblazoned with the Barsburg Military insignia, and on his right he has a golden epaulet and shoulder boards as an indication of his high rank. It is unknown what is worn under the overcoat but it is possible it is a plain white shirt (as Mikage was shown wearing one when in the Military uniform). Ayanami's uniform is more decorated than those of his subordinates, a major difference being that Ayanami has a peaked-cap which is trimmed with gold and has the Barsburg Military insignia in the center. Ayanami is very fond of his military cap, and does not like to take it off - the reason is unknown. In Kapitel 45 Ayanami infiltrated the Barsburg Church in order to attack the Ghost Profe and in doing so wore the traditional Bishop's clothing. He wore a cassock with white trimming on the collar, under a long white outer cassock that hides his arms. The cassock was held together with a loose belt and a large, silver, rectangular brooch emblazoned with the carving of a cross. He also wore the standard Church mitre with a cross in the centre and a veil that extends from the mitre to fall over his face. In Kapitel 80, Ayanami attends Princess Roseamanelle's masquerade, and wears the appropriate noble clothing. AyanamiUniform.png|Ayanami in his standard military uniform. AyanamiBishop.png|Ayanami dressed as a Bishop. MasqueradeAyanamiHyuuga.png|Ayanami in his masquerade clothes. Personality As Ayanami (not Verloren), he is very dedicated to his profession as a soldier and to his country, willing to kill and die for what he believes in, but nationalism is his main motive in his actions. He shares Marshal Oak's view that the best way to protect Barsburg from losing its present territories is to exterminate all the wielders of the Eye of Mikhail, so that no one can make use of the powerful Eye to threaten Barsburg. In Begleiter, he was angry that many people want the Eye for their personal gain and says that the military have sacrificed much to protect it. So, it seems that as Ayanami, he will not kill a nationalist field marshal in order to obtain the right to use the Eye of Mikhail for his personal gain. As Verloren, it is another matter. Verloren is not a Barsburg nationalist, and it is implied that he does not care what happens to the world or the people living in it, as he has once said he will ruin the world created by the Chief of Heaven, and he killed a lot of humans in the world when he tried to find Eve's soul until he was sealed by the Chief of Heaven. Ayanami does not change his behavior or go out of his way in order to impress or please his superiors, and the opinions and comments of other people hardly affect him. However, Ayanami does seem rather sensitive when someone mocks his family, as he was shown to be very offended when the Antwort King mockingly referred to him as 'low-born', Ayanami being quite willing to sympathize with King Antwort's situation until he had said that. It appears that Ayanami holds a lot of respect for those who are willing to make sacrifices for their country, as he smiles when saying that Bastien loves Barsburg more than anything (chapter 16). Ayanami is strong-willed and never complains about pain or tiredness (despite the omake Begleiter ''revealing that he only gets 3 hours of sleep a day). He is quiet and always polite when speaking to others, rarely showing any facial expressions and always speaking in mono-tone. Despite being rather unemotional on the surface, Ayanami is aware of his subordinates' feelings (e.g. he comforted Kuroyuri when he/she cried) and well-being (e.g. he has asked himself countless times whether Yukikaze was happy being his Begleiter). He often prefers to work quietly and alone, rather than dealing with the antics of his subordinates. Ayanami is very tidy and organized, as seen by his tendency to sort his garbage before disposal, and likes to complete his work quickly and to a high standard (e.g. in a manga chapter, other generals expect that it will take him half a year to settle the conflict in Antwort, but it turns out that it only takes him one week to win the war). He dislikes anyone who distracts him (Major Hyuuga is the only person who does so) and is usually very busy with paperwork, military meetings or court martial. He is rarely caught off-guard and shows surprise only when his opponent is stronger than he has thought. Ayanami is an excellent tactician and as the Chief of Staff he has planned many of the military's attacks. He is also very patient, waiting more than ten years till it is the right time to carry out his plan to remove Major-General Ogi. Ayanami can be very cunning and is a master of manipulation. For example, in the manga, he could have killed Razette immediately, but he hasn't done that, because keeping Razette alive allows him to continue getting confidential information from Fest (manga chapter 45). Ayanami can be rather merciless when he feels the Barsburg Empire is being threatened. One example is he implies to Mikage that if he does not reveal any information about Teito who has deserted the army, he will kill Mikage's sister. However, it also seems that Ayanami is bluffing, as an episode shows that Ayanami has actually sent Konatsu to treat the little girl with cakes, chat with her and she is laughing while waiting to see her brother. It seems that he is unwilling to use violence against innocents unless he has no other option. Whereas Ayanami is level-headed on the battlefield, he is quick to loose his temper and is not above using violence, mainly whipping or using zaiphon, to discipline his subordinates if they do stupid things (e.g. joking that Ayanami's cap grows in his head) to annoy him, but Hyuuga is the only one in the Black Hawks who dares annoy Ayanami that way. The fact that Ayanami is Verloren's reincarnation has had a considerable impact on his personality. Despite Ayanami being calm and composed, when Verloren is in control of him he appears uncharacteristically eccentric, his movements are twitchy and he grins manically. When ruling Ayanami, Verloren is impulsive in his actions, a trait which is not normally associated with Ayanami. For example Verloren attacked Labrador in blind-rage, after he(Labrador) remarked that he will never get Eve back, something Ayanami would never have done during a battle. Verloren's crippling insanity also seems to have had an effect on Ayanami, with Hyuuga remarking that Ayanami is often unable to sleep at night because of the nightmares he experiences. Despite his cold demeanor, Ayanami has shown some kindness towards his fellow Black Hawks, despite trying to keep relationships professional (possibly as a result of Yukikaze's death). In the first Drama CD, Ayanami brings treats for his subordinates in his own luggage, but brings nothing but work for himself. He will also try his best to protect them from harm, and will risk his own safety to help them if he feels the situation has become too dangerous for them. This is seen in Episode 19; when Kuroyuri was fighting Castor, Ayanami refused to abandon him/her even when he was in great pain, and similarly in Kapitel 19, when he was willing to be the one who Mikhail attacked instead of Haruse. It was also shown in Episode 25, when he put himself in the line of fire to buy his subordinates some time to escape. Ayanami has a great respect for power, as his motto is "Justice without power is vain" (07-Ghost Official Character book). Abilities and Attributes One of Ayanami's most notable traits is his intelligence, earning him the nickname 'the Barsburg Empires number 1 genius'. This, along with how quickly he rose through the ranks of the military reflect his shrewdness and cunning, and as a strategist he the mastermind behind most of the military's plans. Ayanami is able to find and exploit weaknesses in the enemy's defense or attack style, and his plans are well thought out, always having a fallback plan if things go wrong. After awakening as Verloren, Ayanami can speak at least three languages (language used in Barsburg, Raggs and Heaven). Zaiphon Ayanami is able to harness the power of a zaiphon and is shown to be very skilled at using it (universally being acknowledged as the strongest among the Black Hawks), being able to easily overpower his subordinates, as shown in the Drama CD. He displays many abilities with his zaiphon; mostly using it for attacking - but has shown the ability to put up shields to block attacks from enemies. Ayanami was shown to be strong enough to destroy the barrier that was protecting the city of Antwort with a single attack from his zaiphon. Ayanami is one of two characters in the series that are able to use 2 manifestations of Zaiphon. '''Attacking zaiphon:' Ayanami mostly uses his powers to attack enemies, usually launching rings that explode upon impact. Ayanami has also used his attacking Zaiphon to cut the attacks of opponents in half, so that both sides of the opponent's zaiphon attack miss him. Healing zaiphon: Ayanami has very rarely been seen using his healing zaiphon (as his opponent usually cannot injure him during battle), but was shown being able to heal a wound on his cheek, sustained while holding Kuroyuri's soul, in a matter of seconds. As Ayanami is the reincarnation of Verloren he has also inherited some of Verloren's abilities too, however he cannot use them at their full strength because he is in a human body. Because Verloren devoured the soul of Vertrag, Ayanami has the ability to possess souls by making a contract, as seen in Mikage's case. However, in a human body Verloren can only uses the power imperfectly, hence possessing only half of Mikage's soul. But this is enough to allow Ayanami to control a person's movements and what they say. It is currently unknown for how long he can possess a person's soul and if this works on anyone. The Black Hawks, his loyalest subordinates, have given half of their souls to Ayanami (07-Ghost official character book). Ayanami can communicate telepathically with the owner of the soul he holds. He will also receive the same injury if these owners are injured, as seen in episode 19 (when blood comes out from Kuroyuri's mouth, blood also comes out from Ayanami's mouth). However, while Ayanami is injured when one of his subordinates is hurt, his subordinates do not appear to be injured whenever Ayanami himself receives damage. Hand-to-hand combat Ayanami is rarely shown combating without the use of a Zaiphon, but there is evidence to show that he is an able swordsman, as during his fight with Teito in the church (episode 25), Ayanami drew his sword confidently and was shown to be able to dodge all his attacks then sliced Teito's cheek. Ayanami also carries a whip at his belt at all times, this often being his weapon of choice, and has been shown to be very skilled at using it; being able to hit moving targets, and targets at a distance with ease. References Site Navigation Category:Characters Category:Military members Category:Warsfiel Category:Male Category:Main characters Category:Characters Category:Military members Category:Warsfiel Category:Male Category:Main characters Category:Antagonists